Original French title

Publication history

First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 9/8 1934 and 17/10 1935. Published in book form in 1936 (B/W 124 pages). An edited edition in full colour was published in 1946 with the first four pages totally redrawn and minor changes made to the rest of the book.

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Plot

The story is set in 1931. At that time Japanese troops were occupying parts of the Chinese mainland, and Shanghai, the great seaport at the mouth of the Yangtze Kiang (River), possessed an International Settlement, a trading base in China for Western nations, administered by the British and Americans. Hergé based his narrative freely upon the events of the time, including the blowing-up of the South Manchurian railway, which led to further incursions by Japan into China and ultimately to Japan's resignation from the League of Nations in 1933. [AR]

Review

Le Lotus Bleu was the most important album Hergé had created up to this point, and it remains one of the most important albums throughout the Tintin series. With this album Hergé's graphical development reaches its first peak, turning Tintin into the Tintin we now know. Hergé had already made clear that he intended to let Tintin travel to China in Le Petit Vingtième. Fearing that he would again fail to put down a true image for the setting and the (secondary) characters in his comic, Abbot Gosset, counsellor for a group of Chinese students in Leuven (Louvain, Belgium), wrote him a letter, asking him to do some research on his subject. The Abbot directed him to a Chinese student at the Académie de Bruxelles (Academy of Arts), Chang Chong-ren. The encounter that followed would change Hergé's life and art considerably.

From Chang, Hergé learned how to paint and draw according to Chinese techniques; it was Chang who told him about 'la ligne claire' (clear line), and who taught him how to paint Chinese characters. Chang told Hergé about life in China - the real China, not China as Hergé had drawn her in Tintin au pays des Soviets.

The impact Chang had on Hergé can hardly be overestimated, and it wasn't a big surprise that the two men became friends for life. A lot of what happens in Le Lotus Bleu comes directly from this early stage in their friendship, and Chang would get a part in the album as Tintin's first friend (Tchang). The album was so well-made, that when the album was re-edited in 1946, hardly anything was changed to the drawings or the content.

Chang had been clear enough about what really happened with the invasion of China by the Japanese. What he told Hergé was quite different from what people had been lead to believe; the sabotage of the railway between Shanghai and Nanking for instance—supposedly the work of Chinese railway robbers—had been staged by the Japanese. Since Hergé had almost word for word included Chang's experiences in the album, the Japanese reacted with abhorrence. The Japanese Ambassador filed an official complaint with the Belgian government, demanding that the album be banned. Even the Belgian Army reacted against the publication of the album, claiming it was no longer suitable for children. Hergé more or less admitted his albums were no longer aimed solely at children. But children loved it, and the Chinese were extremely happy with this sudden and unexpected aid in their cause. Hergé even received an invitation from Madame Chang K'ai-shek (wife of the Chinese President at the time) to visit China.

Trivia

The character 張仲仁 Tchang/Chang, is named after a real person. The Abbot Gosset, the student counsellor to Chinese students in Louvain put Hergé in touch with 張充仁 Tchang Tchong-chen/Chang Chong-chen [Zhang Chongren / Chang Ch'ung-jen]. Tchang taught Hergé about Chinese art, history, philosophy, and politics. He helped Hergé with all the Chinese characters in the album. [BP], [TT]

Translations of the Chinese text that appear in the album
[Translations by Irene Mar. Chinese characters below are encoded in Unicode (UTF-8).]

Page 03, frame 09: 哇 Ouch

Page 03, frame 14: Tong Si Nan Pei = 東西南北 East, West, South, North

Page 05, frame 09: red poster: 西門子電機厰 Siemens Electronics

Page 05 frame 09: green poster: 有田千頃不如薄藝在身 Possessing a field of a thousand qing / ch'ing (approx 1,513 acres) is no better than having meagre skills.

Page 05, frame 09: black poster: [illegible characters]

Page 06, frame 03: 表 [possibly 錶 for wristwatch]

Page 06, frame 03: 化桂圓 Dried longans from a place name that ends with 'Hua' [see notes for page 9, frame 6].

Page 12, frame 05: 會當日出歸滄海 時值雲升遮泰山 The sun returns to the ocean; the rising clouds obscures Mount Tai. Notes: 1. according to Chang's daughter, Sophie, these two parallel sentences are taken from the wall scrolls in her father's office at the Pictorial Times (圖畫時報) in Shanghai. {Source: Sophie Tchang's letter to Chinese Tintin fans [in Chinese] “丁丁”与中国的故事——张以菲致信中国“丁丁”读者} 2. Chinese wall scrolls come in pairs; the right hand scroll is the upper scroll, the left hand one is the lower scroll.

Page 20, frame 07: 蓮清靜為藉心空 萍自在因根解脫 [either a misquote or paraphrase of a poem by Xue Shiyu/Hsüeh Shih Yü 薛時雨 (1818-1885). Xue's original couplet, composed at Zi Ran/ T'su Jan Monastery in Zhenjiang/Chen Chiang, Jiangsu/Kiangsu Province (鎮江自然庵), reads: 萍自在因根解脱 蓮清靜為藕空心 or according to some sources, 萍自在因根解脱 蓮清靜為藕空虛. Translation: The duckweed is free because its roots are detached; the lotus is peaceful because its roots are hollow.

The first few pages of the colour edition of The Blue Lotus are actually the ending of Cigars of the Pharaoh, as Tintin's appearance changes radically on frame 1 of page 5; he becomes shorter and more dumpy.
Apparently the original beginning, the one in the black and white edition, had problems with it and redundant panels from Cigars of the Pharaoh were used instead. [AD]

The map behind Dawson's desk on page 36 differs from the one shown on page 44.

When Tintin had to get off the train because of the flood, the station master told him that Hukow was 3 hours walk away. Curiously, Tintin and Chang--who took a shortcut--did not reach Hukow until the following day. [DT]

The position of the legs of the lion statues in front of the Hukow Police Station changes. [DT]

In the French edition, between pages 19 and 54 "Le Lotus bleu" changes name to "Au Lotus bleu". [DT]

Hergé had to delete a sequence in which Tintin encounters a Chinese hoodlum in the Blue Lotus opium den at the end of the story when he goes to free Professor Fang from the gangsters' clutches. [AD]

In the black and white edition, the Fakir appears in frame 3 of page 9. His appearance was deleted for the colour edition. The map in frame 4 of page 4 was also deleted. [AD]

The three ruffians whom Tintin tosses around starting on page 23 are replaced in the colour edition by three Sikh soldiers. [AD]

The gentleman who appears in frame 6 on page 24 and extols the ruffian's virtues, is deleted in the colour edition. [AD]

Chang's second appearance in frame 5 of page 52 is dropped, and his dialogue is combined into the earlier panel, for the colour edition. [AD]

Chang's description of how he tricked the Thompsons in frames 3 and 4 on page 96 of the colour edition is reduced in length - and the illustrations in the voice balloons deleted - in the colour edition. [AD]

The only section of the book that is actually deleted is the one beginning at the bottom of page 118 and ending in frame 6 of page 119, where Tintin and Chang encounter a hoodlum with a gun in the hideout of the drug smugglers. This was deleted for reasons of space. [AD]

In the original black and white version, there are several maps showing Tintin's journey from India to Shanghai. These maps were deleted from the colour version later on. [AD]

The original opening sequence is the same one that opens the colour version, except that a there is a frame on page 9 in which the fakir is shown running away from the palace of Gaipahjamah after shooting a dart at a Chinese visitor sent to warn Tintin about the Japanese agent Mitsuhirato. This picture has been deleted from the colour version, as has the dialogue in frame 1 of page 11 in which it is revealed that the fakir has been captured. [AD]